Ed Kemmick/Last Best News
Hold onto your hats, Billingsites. In less than two weeks, we could have a new record for consecutive days below 75 degrees.
So it wasn’t bad enough that we just endured the snowiest winter in the history of Billings.
Now we learn that we are closing in on the longest streak of sub-75-degree days in our history as well.
“If we could do it a couple more weeks, we could get to the top spot,” said Joe Lester, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Billings. The question is whether that’s a record anyone around here really wishes to break.
According to the weather service, the record was set 20 years ago, in 1994-95, when the streak reached 243 days. It hit 75 on Sept. 28, 1994, and did not crack the barrier again until May 29, 1995.
Fast forward to 2013-14. The last time we hit 75 or above was Sept. 24, making today (Wednesday) the 232nd consecutive day of below 75-degree weather.
“We’ve actually got a pretty good streak going,” Lester said, once again assuming an attitude of professional pride, rather than one of community-mindedness.
All these records date back to 1934, by the way. Lester said it appears we’ll be in the low 70s at the end of this week before cooling off a bit.
“I would guess we’re not going to hit 75 in the next week,” he said. “Beyond that, it’s too hard to say.”
To break the record, we’d have to stay under 75 degrees until May 26. If all that sounds slightly depressing, keep in mind that while this winter was the snowiest ever, it wasn’t even close to the coldest.
As of Monday, according to the weather service, the average temperature since Sept. 25 has been 34.5 degrees. That’s 2.7 degrees below normal, but it ranks as only the 19th coolest winter on record.
Also, be careful what you wish for. Last year, the first time the thermometer cracked 90 degrees was on May 12, when it hit 91, and last May 13 it was 94 degrees. Also keep in mind that there were 17 days of temperatures at 90 degrees or above last July, and 17 more days in August.
Hmm. Maybe a record cool streak wouldn’t be so bad.
